Valentines Day Massacre

Here is the video from the Valentines Day Massacre held at Ground Zero Climbing Gym. This was the 7th year that Sean held the event and there was an excellent turnout again. I don't have all the standings in yet but the Winners were...


Valentines Day Massacre from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Music by: Beastie Boys used under the Creative Commons Sample Plus License. This Track is from a collection assembled by Wired Magazine. Under this license all derivative work is distributed under the same license so you are free to mash up this video and distribute it in any non commercial way. Have fun with it.

Small Boulders put up a good fight

The Scrappy boulders are the farthest boulders on the main "Land of Confusion" loop trail and aren't the tallest of boulders either. I remember the first day we found them, i could not help but wish that they were flipped more upright. I also remember the enthusiasm for them was a bit low and someone even referred to them as the scraps ( useless, worthless, or ineffective). In Greg Campbell's guide he even refers to them as "The Scraps". Well it would not be long before these little guys put up a good fight revealing several surprisingly tough problems, 19 boulder problems in total and five V6 or harder. These boulders are now known as the "Scrappy Boulders".

Here is a re-cut of the LOC classic "Potted Plant Expert - V6" climbed by Jonathan Graham.

It should be noted that there is a excellent variation to this problem that starts with a sit start at the far left of the traverse and goes straight up. It's a bit easier and a good option for people who aren't big on lowball traverses.

The Potted Plant from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

Short but tough

Sorry for the delay on this one. I haven't been all that excited about the video quality on youtube. This clip is suffering in video quality most of all so i've been looking for options. until then....


It was the first day i had ever used my DV camera and the "Get a Grip" crew from Cape Breton were in town for some sends so we took them out for a run around Polly's Cove. First stop was"Havana Affair". It's a nice little problem at the Joey Ramone area, a perfect fit for a stubby guy like Kenny Mac.

Here is the cut of Havana Affair - V5.
Note: in the "Halifax Bouldering" guide it's misprinted as Savannah Affair. I could not find the original documentation (if it ever existed) but i believe the FA was Sean Therien on one of our first days climbing in the area.


Music Track: I like it like That(s.thaens)
By: stefsax
http://stefsax.come2me.nl

Lets see that again

I'm trying a different video sharing site to host some of my videos. I think i get better quality from Vimeo. What do you think? Here is Havana Affair again.


Bouldering Nova Scotia - Havana Affair from Todd Foster on Vimeo.

"When Stars Attack" V7 - Bouldering in the LOC

When filming Eastern Tide: One Season in Nova Scotia I tried to get as many first ascents as possible. At that time there were a lot of FA's going down and I really wanted to capture that energy. When I missed the FA I tried to get the first ascensionist to repeat the problem for the camera.

I was also anxious to get a lot of good sequences in the can. Unfortunately for many of the bouldering developers I would have them repeat the problems several times and film them from different angles until I thought I had the right sequence.

At the time of filming "When Stars Attack" was the hardest problem in the LOC loop, going at a stiff V7. I think to date it has only been repeated by a hand full of climbers. I've tried it several days out and have not been able to do the right hand cross over. I've watched the crux section a bunch and it seems to be all about turning in the right hip (I'm also sure being tall has a bit to do with it as well).

Here is a re-cut of the problem "When Stars Attack". I'm not sure where Zig got the name but it would make a great title for a reality TV series. Who's willing to go head to head with Britney?!


When Stars Attack***, 13ft, V7, SDS – Starts 6ft right of Bop Gun in the obvious fault line. Follow the fault line up and left to the lip. Much harder than it appears. Description from Greg Campbell's unpublished guidebook.
Music by: Tyrad
Song: Struttin'
http://tryad.org/